4790K Bare Die Project

So who has the balls to start this? We have the idea, now someone do it.

Measure the thickness of the IHS. Place a non-conductive material of that thickness to the rear where the bracket screws onto.

Meaker's work of art diagram.


The problem is that the heatsink is attached to the GPU heatsink. That's the big problem.

 

One of these could be useful

Be aware a lidded processor and a delidded processor with the lid placed on it are different thicknesses.

 

Yup. Proper measurement tools. Luckily plastic ones at hardware store are cheap.

 

For minor adjustments in elevation the pressure of the mounting would likely ever so slightly get the rest of the heatsink to fall in line, if the GPU heatsink has a little give in it you could do the backplate mod to it to increase pressure.

 

So, for comparison, here is a 3770K ( http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2261855) delidded and measured. If the numbers are roughly comparable, you would be losing about 2.64mm on height by delidding. This isn't just a matter of dropping the height differential (which may involve a light bending of the heatpipes, not to be done lightly), but also a problem of clearance of the components on the CPU side. For the taller stack, the thermal pads are only 1mm thick. This means, even if we assume you move to direct contact, that you would have an additional 1.64mm+ distance to overcome (the plus to account for any compression on the 1mm pads). That would require grinding down or a rework as that part cannot be simply elevated due to the heatpipes connected to it running straight to the fins for cooling. Now, if you overcome both height differentials, maybe use the backplate mod as meaker suggested, purchase an MSI bare-die kit (has a brace that replaces the retention bracket to hold down the CPU for good contact), verify that this MSI CPU brace is screwed down in the same locations as the retention bracket (whose screws hold the brace/mount for the heatsink to the motherboard) or use spacers and new screws to maintain the brace/mount position. The retention bracket must be taken off as with a bare die you will never make contact with the die due to the drop in height. Hope this helps you out.

To recap, you would need to:
get msi bare-die kit (or tape the corners of the cpu down)
remove retention bracket
secure the brace/mount for the heatsink because of removing the retention bracket
possibly mod the backplate for increased pressure (or switch out the spring screws for regular screws for static mounting pressure, or both)
Reduce the height of the CPU side by slightly over 2.5mm
Possibly grind/sand off the shelf on the CPU side to gain an addition 1.5mm clearance (please measure before beginning as this is just an estimate currently, not a stated fact)

So it can be done if you are willing to do the work....

 

Link to MSI Bare Die Kit?

 

It's called the MSI delid die guard: http://gaming.msi.com/products/motherboard/x99-mpower-xpower
It is currently sold with the Xpower series motherboards. I read on a forum of someone contacting MSI directly and purchasing one. Sometimes you will see them pop up on ebay as well. Now, from the photo, I see four screws used, but we currently have three screws (primarily) for our retention bracket. If you move forward on it, remember that it is on you to verify compatibility. Other than that, happy hunting!!!

 

Unfortunately the delid die guard will not fit the P75xZM, since the ZM's backplate uses only 3 screws.

I realized what the problem was. You're looking at the delid die guard for X99 which uses LGA2011-3. MSI does have a Z97 XPower AC mobo which does come with the delid die guard for LGA1150, and that should fit the P75xZM just fine since I think the socket design is standardized.

 

Sorry, it was a quick search so I didn't verify all the info (socket, etc.). Just wanted to get you headed in the right direction. (Hence a disclaimer) I'll verify the correct board/socket later (nieces and nephew are over for the week). But good catch.

 

I submitted a sales question to MSI to find out how much it would cost or if it's possible to purchase it. This would be the best solution for our Notebooks without screwing up the tension/size. The next issue would be bending the heatpips to accommodate this change.

 

I verified the Z97 xpower (as pictured) uses the three screws. So this will work with the MB on our laptop. If you do move forward on the project, PLEASE DOCUMENT THE ENTIRE MOD PROCESS!!! This way others can follow in your footsteps. I plan on starting a mod section for the P770ZM and P750ZM shortly and populating it with different manuals from overclocking, mounting spacer, going from spring to straight screws, this, etc. I'll open it up in the next hour....

Edit: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/p770zm-p750zm-overclock-undervolt-and-mods-section.773476/

Do not Post in there until this Mod is ready for PrimeTime (so to speak, fully-baked and documented mod!)

Also, I forgot to mention the mounting arms may extend too high for even doing a spacer between the mount and motherboard. If so, a combo of removing the spring screws and doing this would be necessary:

In a similar vein, contact people selling the MB and see if they will sell it to you separately.

Or just carefully measure the mounting spacing and take a page out of Idontcare's pagebook:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2285595

No die guard, just proper spacing and pressure from the waterblock
For other inspiration, look at EK's solution:
http://www.ekwb.com/shop/blocks/blo...-supremacy-precisemount-add-on-naked-ivy.html

For something like this, you'd have to get a backplate and do a mod similar to this:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=34287826&postcount=2

Follow this by bolting above and below the motherboard as is done on the EK mounts, Stretch or bend the heatpipes to accommodate the drop in height, modify the shelf nearby for the components near the CPU, do the mod for removing the spring screws to allow the heatsink to slide onto the posts, then finger tighten bolt ends onto the posts to tighten the heatsink to the CPU (similar to water cooled setups).

There are a couple more considerations in this setup, but just throwing out potential approaches...

 

Recently, Aquacomputer started selling a laser cut shim for Skylake CPUs for a pretty decent price. I thought it might pique the interests of those browsing this thread, although I'm not sure it would be of use to Devil's Canyon users.

I've been researching the possibility of running bare die on my Sager np9870-s, which has a CPU heatsink assembly that isn't shared with any other components (and I think springs on the mounts). I was thinking/hoping that clearance wouldn't be an issue with no modifications.

I've been trying to track down some test results for delidded vs bare die to no avail. I'm sure there's a performance increase going from delidded to bare die, but with delidded results coming in at 16-20c lower temps in best conditions (sources one and two), I'm not sure how much inefficiency is left over. Perhaps it's just my fear of the irreversible talking, but I'd give up a degree or two if it meant I didn't have to take a hacksaw to my rig. Considering how thermally limited these processors are, I think even a 10-15c drop would do wonders.

On a similar note, has anyone checked the finish quality of Sager's CPU coolers? Would it benefit from lapping?

Regardless, subbing for interest.

Edit: Digging around in the np9870-s owners lounge now. I see this may have been the wrong area to post in.

 

This was abandoned because of little benefit. Lapping helps. A shim is still just a metal layer like the ihs...

 

The shim does not cover the die, it's there to re-inforce the package the CPU is on which has been bending due to pressure.